What is LITERACY? The National Literacy Act of 1991 defined literacy as "an individual's ability to read, write, and speak in English, and compute and solve problems at levels of proficiency necessary to function on the job and in society to achieve one's goals, and develop one's knowledge and potential"

To thrive in any community, you first must have an understanding of the language and culture. ESI provides an assortment of literacy courses designed to provide the student with basic communication life skills and/or to increase their academic levels for work or for other postsecondary education.

English and math courses are tailored to the needs of the individual student. They are utilized to prepare for the GED examination, to improve job performance, or to equip clients to navigate the institutions of our community independently.

English as a Second Language: We provide several different levels of English instruction tailored to the learners' communication competencies. The instructional goals are to teach English for everyday living by improving speaking, reading, and writing skills, and to function more effectively in the workplace.

GED Preparation:Basic grammar, use of English as a spoken and written language, and mathematics is covered to help prepare the student to take the GED test and/or to improve job performance.

One of the most important employment requisites in our information-based job market is posessing proficient computer skills. ESI provides a comprehensive business-related software curriculum for entry level and more advanced office employment.

• Computer 101: Covers Windows navigation, basic word processing using MS Word, and keyboarding.
• Computer 201: Covers Windows, Word, and Excel (spreadsheets)
• MS Access: is a powerhouse among desktop databases, providing full relational capability, excellent data analysis features, and an extensive set of application development tools.
• Desktop Publishing: Business and home users have expressed the need to create high impact documents such as brochures or flyers using a better suited software than a word processor. The two most popular desktop publishing software - MS Publisher and PowerPoint - is covered for personal and professional applications.
• Adobe Photoshop 7.0: As far as graphics apps go, Photoshop is still the best, most sophisticated image-editing software available. If you don't own an earlier version and want the best image editor on the market--or need it to run on OS X--version 7.0 is the best of the bunch.

Today's economy has left thousands of people in dire circumstances. There are many laid off workers in transition, some are tackling new jobs with unfamiliar responsibilities, and there are first-time job seekers. There are also families dealing with medical conditions that threaten the stability of their household. All of these people may need assistance navigating uncharted waters.

Our comprehensive NAVIGATOR MENTORING PROGRAM provides much needed personalized guidance to help people obtain a variety of education goals. Through collaboration with community service organizations and our own organization's volunteers we can match clients with appropriate resources and mentors with specific expertise which include personal career planning, academic tutoring, soft skills training, financial education (and donor aid if available), entrepreneurial training, and certain family health issues.

The most important quality our mentors bring to mentees is a source of encouragement, focus, discipline, and empathy in these unsettling times. They are true social navigators. Orientation and training provided to both mentors and mentees.

Parents, not teachers or schools, have the greatest affect on the educational outcomes of their children. PACT Literacy is a parent-centered program that helps low-income parents learn a wide range of parenting skills while preparing their 2 to 12-year old children for success in kindergarten and beyond. Mentors equip parents with the tools, skills and confidence to work with their children in the home with a goal of nurturing their children's language knowledge.

The keys to acquiring language skills are to provide a home environment conducive to learning and healthy upbringing; knowing age-related language milestones; provide reading and writing material; knowledge of the pathways to learning and teaching techniques; establishment of reading and homework times; teaching appropriate behavior; provide effective discipline; and using ordinary activities as teachable moments.

Our military veterans sacrifice so much in service to our country. Unfortunately, the consequences of their deployment are not always concluded once they get back to "the world." A significant number of veterans will face a variety of rentry challenges such as job loss, and financial and marital problems; in addition, many vets will experience certain "adjustment disorders."

Most soldiers will only experience the mild to moderate forms of deployment-related stress. Most of these stress reactions, although unpleasant in the short term, do not result in long-term problems. In many cases, however, the stress from combat events can cause more serious problems that require additional help.

Symptoms of adjustment disorders may include: temporary or chronic mood swings e.g., disillusionment, anger, malaise or depression, remorse, disorientation, panic attacks, hypervigilance; mild mempry loss; sleep, social and occupational impairments; difficulties adjusting to physical disabilities; which in turn can adversely affect their family relations, employment, and quality of life. Unfortunately, the military does not provide sufficient resources for veterans to reenter civilian society.

A substantial number of veterans are in need of job training, various kinds of counseling, physical therapy, and recreational outlets - with one notable addition...a communal support system. Due to the extreme nature of their experiences, veterans respond best with other veterans with whom they can relate. WASP is a veteran-centered support service that brings veterans together, while mentors and coaches provide them with the necessary hard and soft skills needed to readjust to civilian life.

Whether you are looking for your first job, seeking a new career, or intent on keeping your current job, it is essential to have the interpersonal soft skills to both obtain employment and then to retain your job. And in this competitive job market you need to know how to market youself in the best possible way. ESI provides resume development and job search assistance, and job interviewing tips and practice, and interpersonal communication training.

Health literacy is defined as: "The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions." The problem is widespread. Even a person who functions adequately at home or work may have inadequate literacy in a health care environment. As part of an overall effort to improve the quality of health care and to reduce health care costs, individuals need to take an even more active role in health care related decisions. To accomplish this people need strong health information skills.

Low health literacy has been linked to higher rates of hospitalization and higher use of expensive emergency services. Consider that 70 percent of children's visits to ERs are not emergencies, and ER visit costs seven times as much as one to a doctor - not to mention fewer trips to an ER are fewer missed days from work.

There are correlations between low health literacy and poor health, which include adverse impacts of cancer incidence, mortality, and quality of life; with disproportionate of diabetes among disadvantaged populations; with poorer knowledge of asthma and improper metered-dose inhaler (MDI) use; and significantly less knowledge of self-management skills relating to hypertension and diabetes. Being uninformed of the risk factors of SIDS can increase the chances of this catastrophic and silent baby killer.

The estimated additional health care expenditures due to low health literacy skills are about $73 billion (in 1998 dollars). Then there are the devestating economic and social impacts of inadequate health care to these families: short-term and long-term physical trauma, increased medical costs, lost wages to care of family members, etc.

ESI's health care information initiative centers on issues that can be mainly addressed through change of lifestyle which improves the quality of life of target populations. The program links health-specific learning objectives with medical professionals and community funding resources to provide for the health and social needs of underserved members of the community and the public health workforce that serves them. We address general health care illiteracy, and specialty training in such areas as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, sleep disorders and apnea, and childhood diabetes, asthma and nutrition.

The counties along the front range have one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the country. Workers, families and college students need essential money management skills so that they can keep and grow hard-earned wages. ESI provides money management education to help you manage your finances. Topics include goal setting, budgeting, and good spending and saving tips. We also provide MONEY-SMART KIDS financial education for school children.